Drill-collar protector



' 1,613,039 Jan 4 1927 P. MOLAREN DRILL COLLAR PROTECTOR Filed June 19, 192s 2 sheets-sheet 1 Jan. 4, 1927. 1,613,039

P. MCLAREN DRILL COLLAR PROTECTOR Filed June 19, 192:5v 2 Sheets-sheet 2 j 5 drill collars employed for Y .,20 placement.

Patented i Jan. 4, 1927.

UNITED* STATES 1PAfret-agrA OFFICE.)

PETER MQLABEN, or WHI'ITIEB., CALIFORNIA. AssIGNoa rro ifIoLAnnN Auromonnm 7 SIGNAL oomrANY, A ooaroaAzrIoN `or CALIFORNIA.

'DRILL-COLLAR vrenovieren.

Application medium. 19, 1923.'y ,Serial No. 648,348.

- This invention relates to well drilling l equipmentand apparatus and ticularly to a protector or guar prevent' the destruction, due to wear,

connecting up the separate. members constituting the string of ydrill pipe. f' In the drilling of deep wells, the collars or couplings employed to attach the lengths l of drill pipe together are often rotated in contact with the walls of the hole, due either to the fact that the hole is not straight, or due to the bending ofthe string of drill pipe outgoftrue alignment so that contact l `thereof is made with the' wall of the hole. Due to the destructive abrasive action upon l the drill collars caused by their contact with the sides of the hle, these collars are rapidly worn away, necessitating their frequent red which will j the drill collars must be renewed every two weeks, whereas in the drilling of wells of 6,000 feet depth, this renewal is often necessary every week, thus constituting a consid-1 era le'expense owing to the great numberof Y collars used and the comparatively high cost thereof.

It is an object of my invention to provide a protector for a member such as a drill collar or tool joint employed in up of a string of drill pipe, which connectf ing devices are necessarlly of greater diamf eter than the pipe and are, therefore, subject to excessive wear. The protector preferably consists of apair of cooperating semi-cylin- Y drical steel members havmg inwardly turned lips at the upper andvlower ends thereof and Y means for securing the semi-cylindrical `members together in such a manner that'they will cooperate'in enclosing a drill collar vor similar connecting device.

The especial a vantages and further obs jects lof my invention will. be vplainly under: 4stood from the descriptions of the two embodiments hereinafter f described.

. Referring to the drawings which are for illlu'strative purposes only; y Fi 1. is a somewhat dia ammatic view showmg the manner in whlch adrill stem may become bowedwithin the well in such a manner that the collars thereinv are rotated in contact with the walls of` the hole. I

Fig. 2 is an enlarged` view showingv a relates' par-l ,sented by the line In a well of 4,000 feet depth,V

the connecting A'preferred form of protector embodying the Q..

features of my invention, mountedupon a 6l 'drill collar. ofthe Fig. 3.is a'section taken on a plane repref sented by the line .3-3 of Fig. 2.V

Fig. 4 is a section taken on a plane repre- 4--4 of` Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section taken as indicated by the line v5--5 of Fig. 4, with the drill pipe removed from the collar in order that the feature of the protecting device may be shown. v

Fig. 6 is an inside face view of the male cylindrical half ofthe protector.

Fig. 7 is an inside face view of the cooperating lfemale cylindrical half.

Fig. 8 is an elevation showing the cooper- 70 ating members placed together before being locked. f

Fig. 9 is a section taken on a plane represented by the line 9-9 of Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a section similarr to Fig. 9, but, showing the locking ton es depressed.

' Fi 11 is a section ta en as indicated by the line 11 of Fig. 10.

Fig-12 is an enlarged fragmentary secv tional'view showing the locking tongue preliminary to its being'liattened into engagement with the side walls of the cooperating notch. l

Fig. 13 is aview showing the locking structure attained when the tongue sh`own in Fig. 12 is flattened.4

Fig. 15 is a perspective view of the lockring member employed for `locking together the cooperating members shown in Fig.` 14. In the diagrammatic view, Fi'g. 1, 20 -in-v dicates a string of drill pipe secured to ether by collars 21 and havin a cutting it 22 situated at the lower en thereof. It gen# erally occursinthe drilling of a deep well that the drill pipe due to the superimposed weight thereof 'will bow laterally, thusi bringing the -pipe and the collars into con#A tact with thel wall of the lole, as indicated at 23 in Fig. 1. IThe excessive wear d ue to l v the rotation` ofl thel collars21v a finst the 105 sides of the hole ycauses =themfto rapi lly v worn away, with the result that their replacement is necessary at frequent intervals.

My invention as'shown in Figs. 2 and 3 provides a pair of cooperating semi-cylindrical shell members and 26 which are of internal diameter corresponding to the exterior diameter of the collar 21 upon which they are mounted, and which have inwardly turned flanges or lips 27 at the ends thereof which turn inwardly over the ends of the collar 21. The member 25 is provided along the abutment edges 28 thereof with projecting dovetail tongues 29 which are received in cooperating dovetail notches 30 formed in the abutment edges of the member. 26, the interlocking of the -dovetail tongues with the cooperating slots effectively securing the members 25 and 26 together. 'I`o prevent rotation of the protector upon the collar, a downwardly depressed hump 31 is formed in the upper and lower edges of each member 25 and 26, which humps are arranged to engage notches 32 formed in the upper'and lower edges of the collars 21 as shown in Figsi 4 and 5.

As shown in Figs. 7 and 13, the side walls 34 of the dovetail notches 30 diverge as they progress inwardlyv from the outer face 35 ofV the ymember 26, andas further shown in Fig. 13, the side walls 36 of the tongues 29 are correspondingly diverged as they progress inwardly so that the outward movement, or in other words the' movement in a direction of the arrow 37, ofthe tongue can not occur, thus providing between the members 25 and 26 a compound locking arrangement which prevents the tongues 29 from moving relatively outwardly as indicated by the arrow 37 in Fig. 13 and prevents the cooperating members 25 and 26 being separated.

In the stamping of the male member 25, the tongues 29 are cut inwardly from the edges 28,` as indicated at 40 in Figs. 2, 6, 8 and 9, and are bent outwardly in the manner shown in Figs. 6 and 9 so that when the members 25 and 26 are initially placed ton gether upon a collar 21, the tongues29 will lie angularly in positions above the notches 30 and from these positions may be bent inwardly by use of a hammer or Sledge. 'In order that the tongues, which', it will be remembered, are provided with diverging side walls 36, may enter laterally into the notches as must occur when the tongues are driven inwardly from the position shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the ton es are curved in the manner shown in Fig. 12, this curvature being just sufficient to bring the distance D between its 'edges to a magnitude which will permit the tongue to pass through the opening defined by the outer edges of the notches or the opening indicated as the dist-ance Oz in Fig. 12.

The tongues 29 are' first driven down into the slots to the positions indicated in Figs.

10, 11 and 12, and may then be driven flat with a suitable sledge or hammer so that they will completely fill the notches 30, as shown in Fig. 13.

It may be desired to harden the cooperating semi-cylindrical shells, thus greatly increasing the wearing qualities thereof. This hardening, however, would be detrin mental to the durability .of the tongues 29, owing to the fact that they must be bent through a considerable angle in the locking of the members together.

In Fig. 14, I show a pair of identically formed semi-cylindrical shells which may bc hardened and which are provided with cooperating dovetail or other suitable notches 46, these notches 46 having the side walls thereof under cut as indicated by the dotted lines 47 and receivin locking members 48 of the type shown in ig. 15. These locking members being formed separately from the cooperating shells 45 may be left in soft or malleable condition, so that when the curved formation 49 thereof is flattened out to cause them to become firmly locked in the notches 46, the flattening will not ap- -preciably affect the durability thereof.

The use of a protector of the type which may be preferably formed as herein de- Iscribed, enables the use of the drill collars or. other pipe connecting means for an indefinite period of time. The protectors when worn may be discarded and replaced at a cost which is considerably less than one half the replacement cost of collars. A further advantage in the use thereof is that they may be quickly applied, whereas considerable labor is entailed in the replacement of the collars which must be threaded upony 'the drill pipe.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination: a shaft consisting of a number of members joined together in consecutive arrangement, said shaft having enlargements of greater diameter than the parts of said shaft adjacent thereto; remov able protectors formedv of cooperating particylindrical'shells arranged to t closely over said enlargements and having the function of housings for preventing contact of said enlargements witexternal objects; edge engagement means for securing said shells together upon said enlargements; and formations on said rotectors, said formations engaging the en sof said enlargements for preventing relative movement between said protectors and said shaft.

2. In combination: a shaft consisting of a number of members joined together in consecutive arrangement, said shaft having enlargements of greater diameter than the parts of said shaft adjacent thereto; rem'ovable protectors formed of cooperating particylindrical shells arranged to lit closely over said enlargements and having the functions engaging thef ends of gether upon said enlargements;

-said protectors,

tion of housings for preventing contact of said enlargements with external objects; interlocking means associated with the adjacent edges of said shells for securing Said shells together upon said enlargements; and formations on said protectors, said formasaid' enlargements for preventing relative movement between said protectors and said shaft.

3. In combination: a shaft consisting of a number of members joined together in consecutive arrangement, said shaft having enlargements of gre-aten diameter than the parts of said shaft adjacent thereto; removble protectors formed of cooperating particylindricall shells having inwardly turned ianges at the ends thereof and arranged to tit closely over said enlargements and having the function of housings for preventing contact ot said enlargements with external objects; means engaging between ythe edges of said shells for securing said shells -toand formations on said protectors, said formations engaging the ends of said enlargements :tor

preventing relative movement between said `protectors and said shaft.

4. In combination: a shaft consisting'of a number of membersjoined together in consecutive arrangement by coupling members of greater diameter than the joined members, said coupling members thus constituting enlargements in said shaft; removable protectors formed of cooperating semi-cylindrical shells arranged to fit closely over said enlargements and having the function of housings for preventing contact of said enlergements with external, objects; interlocking meansengaging between the edges of said shells for securingsaid shells together upon said enlargements; and formations on said formations engaging the ends of said enlargements'for preventsaid pairs of protectors together; and

engaging said' ing relative movement between said protectors and said shaft.

5. In a protector of the class described, the combination of: cooperating arcuat Amembers arranged to be placed in closely fitting relationship upon a cylindrical member in form of a continuous housing; means engagin" between the edges of said cooperating C members for holding said cooperating members securely in place upon said cylindrical member; and formations on said protectors, said formations engaging the ends of said enlargpments for preventing relative movement etween said protectors and said shaft. 6. In a protector of the class described, the combination of: cooperating arcuated members arranged to be placed upon a cylindrical member in form of a continuous housing, certain of the edges of said cooperating members having dovetail notches formed therein; and dovetail extensions on other-edges of said cooperating members adapted to engage saiddovetail notches in a manner to secure said cooperating members in place cylindrical member, said dovetail extensions being outwardly bent and 'arranged to be flattened down into place when said cooperating members are placedtogether.

7. In combination: a string of drill pipe consisting of lengths connected together y couplings of` larger diameter than said lengths;'a pair `of protectors adapted 'to be upon said placed around each of saidcouplings in conj l tact therewith; means for securing each ofL means formed on said portectors couplings for preventing relative rotation between said protectors and said couplings.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles, California, this 9th day of June, 1923.

- PETER MCLAREN. 

